Bismillah-ir-rahman-nir-raheem, In the name of Allah (God), the Compassionate, the Merciful. Ramadan dinners is inspired by the millions of women throughout the world who tirelessly put on the equivalent of a dinner party every single night for 30 days. This is Ramadan chez nous, sharing what we eat, inspiring you and hopefully making things slightly easier.

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Previous Ramadans

Cooking up a Storm

I’m not exactly sure why, but last night I decided to cook a few things rather than just one or main plus carbohydrate. We’ve still been working our way through various countries but some iftaris weren’t really worth blogging about eg the night we had England as our theme, we had fish shop fish and chips…well the gluten eaters did. I had supermarket gluten free fish fingers with chips and baked beans. The following night with the US as our theme it had to be burgers. Last night we hit Spain.

Our menu was:

Lamb Paella with peppers and green beansPrawns and mussels in garlic and chilliPatatas Bravas Tomato and goats cheese salad

Lamb Paella with peppers and green beans

1 onion1/3rd of a shoulder of lamb (meat and bones)Olive oil2 ripe tomatoes or 2 tomatoes from a tin of tomatoes230g of cooked Butter beans100g green beans1 red pepper chopped into large cubes1 cup long grain riceApproximately 2.5 cups* of Water4 garlic cloves1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoons of sweet paprika (adjust to taste)1 pinch of saffron diluted in hot water

* Cup = any mug you have just make sure to use the same for both the measures.

1. Wash the rice and set aside in some water.2. Dice an onion3. Put enough olive oil to cover the base of the pan, then fry the onions on a low heat until they are golden.4. When the onions are done add the lamb shoulder, browning the meat.5. Add 4 cloves of chopped garlic to the lamb and continue to brown. 6. Add the salt and paprika, stir and coat the lamb with them.7. Finely chop the tomatoes then add to the pan. 8. Now add enough water to cover the meat entirely, bring to boil and then leave to simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes with a lid on. The water should have reduced slightly but there should be enough covering the meat. 9. Wash the butter beans until the water runs clear then add the beans to the pan. Stir to adjust the placement of the meat and beans in the pan.10. Finally add the drained rice to the pan. Level out the rice so that it is evenly distributed in the pan. Do not stir the rice at all.11. Heat the pan till the liquid till it boils, then reduce and leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes with the lid on.12. Switch the heat off, and place the green beans and red pepper on top of the rice. Place the lid back on to the pan and leave standing for 10 minutes. Do not open until the 10 minutes are up.

Patatas Bravas

4 medium potatoesSpray oil

Cube the potatoes into approximately ½ inch cubes, put in a pan of water and boil for approximately 5 minutes. Drain and place on an ovenproof tray and spray with spray oil and place in the oven at 200 degrees for an hour and a half or until golden brown. Serve hot with the bravas sauce and allioli.

Combine the egg, garlic, teaspoon of vinegar, teaspoon of olive oil in a food processor and blitz until they take on an emulsified consistency. Gradually pour in a little olive oil until you reach a thin mayonnaise consistency. I find doing this bit slowly helps.

Put approximately 1cm of olive oil in a pan with the crushed garlic and heat on a very low heat for approximately 5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and then add the chilli, prawns, mussels and the water. Place a lid on the pan and cook for 7 minutes or until the prawns and mussels are cooked all the way through. Serve with sliced limes.